Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Two area lawmakers said they doubted the City of Tucumcari would be awarded capital outlay funds during the New Mexico Legislature’s current session because of the city’s late audits.
State Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) and state Rep. Jack Chatfield (R-Mosquero) also talked about their priorities days before the session was set to begin at noon on Jan. 21. The session will end on March 22.
Woods’ District 7 includes Quay, Curry and Union counties, including most of Tucumcari. Chatfield’s District 67 encompasses most of the state’s northeast corner, including all of Quay County.
The City of Tucumcari is late with its audits for fiscal years 2023 and 2024.
Turnover in the city’s finance department has been cited as one reason. Another is the city’s hired auditing firm, Axiom CPAs, was acquired by another company this fall, prompting delays in audit reports.
A 2013 executive order by Gov. Susana Martinez stated that entities would not be eligible for capital outlay funds if regular financial audits were completed.
Woods, a member of the Legislative Finance Committee, doubted the city would receive capital outlay funds based on that order.
“They’re very unlikely to get capital outlay if they don’t have a recent audit,” he said. “It’s so we know the money is being spent properly. It’s a necessity.
“We can feel sorry for someone, but that’s one of those things that management has to stay on top of,” he added. “There’s a lot of things you might let go, but you’ve got to stay on top of the money part of it.”
Chatfield, a member of the House Appropriations & Finance Committee, agreed with Woods that Tucumcari receiving capital outlay is unlikely.
“I’ll tell you that I have control over whether I appropriate funding to them, and it will not affect that. Whether they can legally receive that funding is a different story,” he said.
The lawmakers talked about their priorities for the session:
— Woods said he wants to repeal a state mandate that requires a certain proportion of electric vehicles in dealerships’ inventories.
“We don’t have the infrastructure” for EV vehicles, Woods said. “We don’t need to hold anybody to that because the demand is just not there.”
— Woods said he wants to hike livestock board fees over a three- to four-year period.
“I’m getting pushback on that,” he said. “But the main thing I want is for the producers to have a voice in how that money is spent and how it’s used. If they want service from the livestock board, they’ve got to pay for it.”
— Woods said he’s skeptical of Democratic lawmakers’ proposal for a $1 billion trust fund for behavioral health administered by the judiciary system. Other than that, Woods knows few other details about the plan.
“I talked to the mental health resources there in Clovis, and they tell me the biggest problem with these regional behavioral health facilities is the staffing. We don’t have the clinical, clinical, clinical, the social workers or the psychiatrists to man this stuff,” he said.
Woods reiterated, however, he still supports a behavioral health facility planned in Clovis.
— Chatfield, citing thousands of homeless people in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, said the state needs to look to Houston’s example to address the problem.
“They put in housing, they required people to get into treatment, and they they provide them with housing and shelter, but they are required to take treatment, and they’re not allowed to remain on the street,” he said.
— Disappointed by the state’s rock-bottom ranking in education, Chatfield said he wants to move away from a governor-appointed Public Education Department secretary to an elected state education superintendent and education board.
— Chatfield said he wants a crackdown on crime and illegal drugs by closing the Mexican order, including using the National Guard.